Press Releases

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), the Republican leader of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, released the following statement today upon the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of Peter Gaynor as the next Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA):

“I want to congratulate Peter Gaynor and ensure him that Committee Republicans and I stand ready to work with him to better help our communities prepare for and recover from disasters.

“Unprecedented levels of flooding last year in the Missouri River Basin and Mississippi River Valley inundated hundreds of thousands of acres across North Missouri, with devastating impacts on people’s lives and livelihoods.  Ten months after the first levee breaches in my district, some of our areas are still underwater.  And we’re not alone – communities across the country continue to prepare for, deal with, and rebuild after various disasters of all levels of magnitude.

“I look forward to working with Administrator Gaynor to fully implement critical reforms we’ve passed, including those in the Disaster Recovery Reform Act to improve and speed up the recovery process and to ensure that communities in Missouri’s 6^th district, and communities throughout the Nation, are more disaster-resilient.  Given his strong background as an emergency manager, I encourage him to bring forward any ideas he has for Congress to better equip his agency with the tools necessary to carry out its critical mission.”

Note: In the U.S. House of Representatives, Transportation and Infrastructure is the committee with legislative and oversight jurisdiction of FEMA and federal disaster preparedness and response programs.